Strand twisting and coiling mechanism



May 29, 1928;

Filed Aug, '7, A1924 R C ANGELL YSTRAND TwIsTING AND coILING MEcHANIsu,

May 29, 192s. 1,671,951

R. c. ANGELI.

STRAND TwIsTING 'Ann comme 111191111111911 Filed Aug. 7.- 1924 4'sheets-Sheet 2 invento/r C1 Wout,

May 29, 1928.

R. ANGELI.

.S-TRAND TWISTING AND COILING IECHANISI May Z9, 1928.

- y R. CfANGELL STRAND TwIsTING Ami comme macmmlsu Patented YMay i 29K,1928. i

lUNITED STA ROBERT C. ANGELI., F PRINCE BAY,

STRAND TWISTING AND COILING MEHANISM.

Bassum Application led August 7, 1924. Serial No. 730,740.

My invention relates particularly to that class of mechanism or machinesthat are adapted to produce cables or ropes formed of a plurality ofstrands twisted or wound together, and is especially directed tomechanism wherein a plurality of strands of wire are helically coiledaround a mandrel or stranded core to form a cable which may be employedas a driving shaft for connecting mandrel, whichmovable elements forsynchronous actuation.

In the production of flexible cable or shaft formed of a plural-ity oflayers of wire or strip material superposed-in coiled relation one uponthe other, therel are considerable stresses inherent in the fabricatedproduct, due to the tension effected by bending of the individualstrands in coiling them aboutthe tends to produce vtorsional stress, andwhich effects undue internal friction when such cable is rotated aboutits axis in iexedor curved condition, and furthermore, there is atendency of this fabricated product when released to recoil andtherebytwist upon itself into 'a tangled mass. Owing to the inherent stresseseffe'cted by the tension of the individual strands of such cable it hasheretofore been impractical to 'ciently free from internal friction asto be 'successfully employed as a driving shaft, except in such limitedlengths as to require the constant attention of an attendant.

The principal object of my invention is to provide in flexible cable orshaft producing mechanism, means tending to so Atwist the fabricatedcable or shaft as to relieve the inherent stresses incidenttothe tensioneffected by the laying on of the strands of the superposed windings,whereby such inertflexible shaft, or shaft substantially free frominternal frictionv and embodying. the desired flexibility, maybe'produced in what may betermed continuous length, or shaft that may betaken up by spooling mechanism l as fabricated.

Other objects vof my vinvention are toprovide means arranged to twistthe mandrel or l' e core upon whlch the superimposed strands are beinglaid to form a composite or fabricated cable, and to provide means to sotwist said fabricated cable thus produced, as -to leflecta slight recoilor turning back of the coiled strands and thereby so relieve thestresses inherent therein as to render the fabricated cable inert,.orsubstantially free from produce cable which is suii-.

vout carrier 1, the strand-fee ing NEW Yoax, -.assIaNon 'ro 'nmls.`s,.w1n'.r1|: DENTAL MANUFACTURING COMPANY,

A CORPORATION 0F PENNSYLVANIA.

internal friction when employed asia driving or connecting shaft androtated, or

otherwise actuated, in flexed or curved condition.

Specifically stated the form of my invention, as hereinafter described,comprises a core spool carrier or payout mechanism, a strand bobbincarrier or winding mechanism, and recoil or untwisting mechanism,l allrotatable about the longitudinal axis of the fabricated cable, and atake-up reel or spooling mechanism, which may or may not A be alvangedto rotate about said axis, and

upon which the recoiled cable is wound, and means whereby the rotationof the independent units may be relatively varied.

My invention also includes all the various novel features ofconstruction and arrangement as hereinafter more definitely specified.In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinalsectional view of a machine constructed in accordance with my invention;Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical sectional View of the machine shown inFig.l 1 taken on the line 2 2 yin said figure; Fig. 3 is a transversevertical sectional viewv of said machine taken on the line 3-3 in Fig.l; Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical Sectional 'view of said machine takenon the I line 4-4 in Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a side elevati'onal view of ashort length of the fabricated structure -forming the shaft and showingthe first layer of strands coiled upon 4the core; Fig. 6 is a sideelevational -view of asection of said shaft showing thesecond layer ofstrands coiled thereon; Fig. 7 is a side elevational view 'of a sectionof said shaft showing the -third layer of strands coiled thereon; Fig. 8is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of a. machine embodying aslight modification' of construction; Fig. 9 is a vertical longitudinalsectional viewof a machine embodying another modification ofconstruction; and Fig. l0 is a transverse vertical sectional view takenthrough the take-up reel on the line 10-10 in Fig. 9.

The machine shown in Figs. l to 4 inclusive may preferably be composedof separate units cooperatively connected and com- .prising amandrel-dispensin or core payand winding or laying-on mechanism 2, therecoil or untwisting mechanism 3, arranged to rotate the cable aboutyits longitudinal axis, and thectakemp or spooling mechanism 4.

frame 5 provi ed with trunnions 6 and 7 rotatably mounted in thestandards 8 and 9 and havin the lmandrel or core-carrying s ool 10,which is mounted to rotate in said 1er-frame 5 on the shaft 11 whoseaxis extendsitransve'rse to the axis of rotation of said flier-frame 5,and which is arranged to pa out the mandrel or core 12 guided throughthe hollow trunnion 7.

Rotation of the Hier-frame 5 may be effected in an convenient manner,but I have chosenx to il ustrate a simple method which comprises thepulley 13 secured on the trunnion 6, arid yhaving varying diameterslarranged to be connected by the belt 15 with a similar, stepped pulley16 on the countershaft 17. The strand-feeding and winding mechanismcomprises vthe strand bobbin frame having its end walls comprising thedisks 20 and 21 connected by and 24 mounted for rotation ^in thestandards 25 and 26, the trunnion 23 being ex` tended inwardly to formthe hollow stud 27 upon which the bobbins 30, 31, 32 and 33 may berotatably mounted and removably he in position thereon by 'the disk 35,w ch is retained on the stud 27 by therenut 36. v

@Sai bobbins 30, 31, 32 and 33 are respectively arran ed to deliverstrands'i, 38, 39

anda 4() to t e strand-twisting die 42,suitably mounted in the disk 21and-.having therein suitable apertures 43 through which said strands arearranged to pass, and the aperture 44 for the core 12, which is directalg,

through the hollow trunnion 23, hollow stud 27 and hollow trunnion 24,and' about which said strands 37, 38, 39,- and 40v`are vcoiled by therotation of the strand bobbin frame'and its die 42. v'I he strands 37,38, 39 and 4() are respectively directed to the die 42 by passing oversuitable guide rollersv or p ulle s 45, .preferably` carried by 'thespacing connected by the driving-belt 49., with' the' pulley l504m thecounter-shaft 17 the pulley being of much greater diameter tha'n theulley 47, so as yto rotate 'fthe strand-bobbin rame at acomparativelylhigh rate of speed.

As` shown in Fig. 1, the stranded structure thus vformed may beprogressedlongitudi-4 nally, ata predetermined rate of' spee f, vby .therecoil mechanism comprisingy the 'rum' 52, around' which said strandedstructure ,l l' may be wrapped for one or more turns," and l*wlnchgismounted for rotation 'in the frame 53 on-.anlaxistransversetosthe'direction of the spacing bars 22,V and respectively havmg hollowtrunnions 23,

lineal movement of the: stranded structure and having its peripheralsurface in tangential relation with respect tothe lineai axis of saidstranded structure.

Said frame 53 is itself mounted for independent rotation about the axisof the y stranded structure, having trunnions 55 and 56 mounted forrotation in the standards 57 and 58,V and being provided with anaperture 59 forming a guide through' said trunnions 55 and 56for thepassage of the stranded cable or shaft structure, which is arranged tobe wrapped one or more turnsaround the' e i surface of'said drumfromwhich it passes to the take-up mechanism, tov be -hereinafter described.

- The trunnion 550i the recoil mechanism is' provided with the steppedpulley '60, f

which is connected by the driving belt 61\ with the stepped pulley 62011the countershaft 17, and may be rotated with the core pay-out mechanismor may be rotated atrelative-speeds in the-saine or opposite directionas desired. f

vPositive, rotation of thevdruln 52 on its axis may be effected throughthe worm gear 63 on the shaft 64 of said rum,.by cooperation with .theworm 65 whose shaft 66 carries thel gear 67 in meshwiththe gear72,'which is secured in stationaryrelatlon upon-the standard 57. j.

,The take-up mechanism comprises the take-up reel having its shaft`76mounted for rotation inthestandards- 77, and providedv with the pulle 78-connected bythe belt 79 with the` pul ey 80 on the countershaft 17 Itwill be obvious that Said counter-shaft may be'rotated in eitherdirection,

and the belts connecting the pulleys thereon may be veither direct orcrossed, depending 10B lupon the direction in vwhich the various v unitsof the machineV are to be rotated', and

said belts may so ,connect the pulleys as to vary the relative speedsatl'which the units maybe actuated.

The various stages of cntli'lltion ofthe.'

fabricated rope or cable are depictedbyen- J .urged illustrations inFigs; 5,6 andyrui first layer of strands 37, 38', 39 and 4 0, being laidside by side iii-coiled .relation about the core or mandrelv12, as shownin Fig. 5; the second layer strands .being laid upon the first layer inoppositely directedco'iled relaf tion, as shown in Fig. 6'; and thethirdlayer of strands being coiled wiii'tn'ossed relation, .to thesecond layer, as shown in 7,

whereby the composite cable or .sha is formed by 'layers of four'strands disposed side by side, it being (understood however, that themachine may beldapted to form the cable orshaf-t by fabricating thelayers ioflone or morestrands shaft-may befformedofmay be deemedpractical.

- In h'eform of my invention shown in and said cable or, as manylayerseas solelyby the take-up mechanism, which may `cable or shaft.

be so driven as to vproduce a predetermined constant pull to draw outsaid fabricated Said take-up mechanism comprises the take-up reel 10,5,having its shaft 106 mounted for rotation in the standards 1.07, andprovided with the pulley 108 connected by the belt 109 with the pulley110 which is carried by a suitable slide frame `111 mounted forlongitudinal movement on the counter-shaft 100, and having a frictionwheel, 112 arranged to alternately engage the opposed surfaces of thefriction disks 113 and 114.

The friction wheel 112 is arranged to be held in engagement with thefriction disks 113 and 114 by the double bell-crank-lever 115, which'hasone arm engaged with the slide-frame 111 and its laterally extended arms116 and 117 provided with suitable hooks 118 and 119 arranged ^toreceive the loop or ring 120 of the weight 121. As will be obvious, saidweight may be engaged with either of said hooks 118 or 119, dependingupon which of the friction disks 113 and 114 the friction wheel 1121s tobe engaged, and umm the direction in which the countershaft 100 may berotated.

In this form of my invention shown in Fig. 8, the recoil drum 125, whichis mounted for rotation in the frame 126 is rotated v bythe take-upmechanism` pulling on the fabricated cable, which is wrappe around saiddrum 125, as shown, and requires no gearing such as shown in- Fig. 1.Furthermore, 1n Fig. 8 I have chosen to show the core dispensing bobbinand the recoil frame so connected with the driving shaft as to rotate-atrelatively different speeds. d

In the form of my invention shown in Figs. 9 and 10, the recoil oruntwisting drum 130 is mounted for rotation about the axis of its shaft131 which is carried bybearings -in the standard 132, said rotation'being effected by the shaft being fabricated, whichA is wrapped one ormore times around said drum and progressed by the takeup reel 135.

In this form of my lnvention, the `takeup reel 135 not only rotates vonits axis to longitudinally progress the fabricated shaft,

but itis also arranged to rotate bodily around the longitudinal axis ofsaid fabricated shaft, said reel 135 having its shaft 136 mounted insuitable bearings in the frame 137, which -has the trunnions 138 andv139 mountedtorotate in the standards 140 and 141, the former of whichis rovided with the bore 142 through which t e fabri cated shaftpassesto said takeup 135.: The rotation of said frame 137 may be eected thestepped pulley 143 whichis connected by the belt 144 with thesteppedvpulley 145 on the countershaft 146.

The shaft 136 of the .takeup reel 135, is

will'be obvious, when the frame 137 is rotated about the longitudinalaxis of the fabricated shaft, the takeup reel 135 will be caused torotate on the axis of its shaft 136.

It will be obvious that the takeup reel 135 -and the worm gear 147 mayboth be secured to the shaft 136. so asto rotate the reel atapredetermined speed and consequently draw out the fabricated shaft at alike speed, or said worm gear 147 may be loosely mounted to rotate onthe shaft 136 and be frictionally connected with said shaft 136 andtakeup reel 135 by any desired form of tension mechanism, such, fortypical illustration, as shown in Fig. 10, wherein the friction disk 152is forced into engagement with the worm gear 147 by the spring'153 andthe tension varied by the adjusting nut 154, whereby any desired pullmaybe exerted to draw out saidfabricated shaft.

Although, in=this form of my invention, Athe recoil or untwistingv drum130 does not rotate bodily about the longitudinal axis of thefabricatedshaft, as in the other forms of my invention, it will beobvious, however, that said drum tends to cooperate with the takeupmechanism whose takeup reel 135 is arranged to rotate bodil about thellongitudinal axis of the shaft being fabricated, to

of said shaft.

It is to be understood that the means herein shown and described foractuating the associated mechanism is typical and simply forillustrative purposes, as it is obvious that the parts may be readilyconnected for cooperation Iby other means, such, for instance, bysuitably correlated gearing.

Furthermore, it is to be understood that the core herein referred to mayconsist of a sin le strand or may becom osed of a plurahty of strandslaidvl parallel, twisted together. 'or coiled about each other in anyform desired.

My invention'is advantageous in that the fabricated cable thus formedmay be so rotated upon its longitudinal axis as to relieve the tensionin the strands forming the layers during fabrication, so that 'whenspooled upon the take-up reel it will be substantiall vious that variousmodifications may be noA 100 effect a recoil or untwisting of thestrands claim:

made therein without departing from the yessential features of myinvention as defined in the' appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I

1. A machine of the class described, comprising rotary mechanism'forfabricatinga stranded shaft, means rotatable about the axis of saidstranded shaft for spooling the shaft, l0

and means interposed between said fabricating mechanism and spoolingmeans arranged to prevent rotation of said fabricated shaft and therebytend to relieve the inherent stresses therein before spooling.

' prising mechanism for-fabricating a stranded shaft, means for spoolingsaid fabricated shaft, means arranged to effect arecoiling or turningback of the coiled strands before spooling, and means tending to preventthe rotation aof said fabricated shaft as it leaves the fabricatingmechanism.

3. A machine of the class described, comf prising mechanism arrangedforfabricating a stranded shaft having a core, and having means forrelatively twisting the core to cren ate/a predetermined inherenttorsional stress therein during fabrication of said shaft.

4.' A machine of the class described, com- Wound on. said core.

-6. A Amachine of'the classdescribed, comprising a plurality ofcooperative units including 4strand-twisting lmechanism, and drawing-outmechanism arranged to rotate with respect to each other about the axisof the'fabricated product.

v7. A machine of the class described, com- I vprising a plurality ofcooperative units in# cliding 'coreLdispensingmechanism, strandfeedingand winding mechanism, and draw ing-out mechanism, all arranged torotate 2. A machine of the class described, com? prising mechanism forfabricating a strand coiling or turning back the .coiled strandswithrespect to each otherabout the axis ofl the core' ofthe fabricatedproductr 8. A machine of the class described', coinprising a plurality'of cooperative units including means arranged to pay out a core strand,meansarranged to wind strands about said core stral d, and meansvarranged toprogress the Vfabricated roduct .longituglins'lly,4 all beingmounted or relative rota"- `the combination with mechanism arranged .todispense a core,

tion about the axis of sadcore strand, and cooperative to Wind saidstrands together and to so recoil the fabricated product as to relievethe inherent tension. ,f

9. A machine of the class described; comprising apluralityof'cooperative. units includiiig means arranged toy pay out acorestrand, means arranged to wind strands about said core strand, and meansarranged to progress the fabricated product longitudin'ally, all beingmounted for relative rotation about the axis' ofsai'd core strand, and

cooperative to win-d saidv strands togetheraiid to so recoil' thefabricated product as to` relieve the inherent tension, andmeansv'arranged to take up the fabricated product thus recoiled.

10. A machineA of" the class described, comprising a plurality ofcooperative rotary units includingv core-dispensingmechanism,strand-feeding and winding mechanism,0cooperative to form a fabricatedshaft, take-up mechanism, and means disposed between the windingmechanism and ltake-up mechanism arranged to rotate the fabricated shaftupon its axis of longitudi nal movement at a speed differing from thespeed of rotation lof said core dispensingmechanism. y

11. 1n a machine ofthe class described,

of mechanism arranged to wind a plurality of strands about said core,mechanism for progressing the fabricated product longitudinally, allbeing mounted to rotate about the axis of said core, means connected toconteniporaneously rotate said mechanism, and means arranged to effectthe relative rotation of said mechanism, and a take-up for the productthus formed. f 12. In a machine of the. class described, the combinationwith means arranged to dispense a core, of means arranged to formstranded convolutions about said core, means for progressing thefabricated prod; uct longitudinally and conteniporaneously rotating saidproduct about the axis of lits core, anda take-up for the product thusformed, cooperative with said progressing means, to untwist saidfabricated product. v 13. In a machine 4of the class described, thecombination with mechanism for feeding and twisting a plurality ofstrands-'together -to form a stranded shaft, means rotatable. about thelongitudinal axis of the| fabricated'product', arranged to contempor'raneously rotate said product about its axis while progressin'gitjlongitudinally.

l14;'In a machineA of. the class described, the combination withmechanin arranged to feed and twistV together a plurality of lstrands-to vform 'a composite shaft. having a mechanism and said take-up meansarranged to effect untwisting of said shaft whereby the strands are'recoiled to relieve the internal friction between said strands, and thecore is twisted to produce torsion therein before fabrication. l

15. Mechanism arranged to wind together a lurality of strands into afabricated iexible shaft, andcomprising strandwinding means, takeupmeans rotatable` about the longitudinal axis of said shaft, and meansarranged to prevent the rotation of said 'shaft between said takeupmeans and said winding means, and thereby cooperate with said takeupmeans to effect recoil or untwisting o f said shaft.

16.A Mechanism arranged to windv together a plurality of strands into a`'fabricated flexible shaft, and comprising strand- Winding lmeans,take-up means rotatable about the longitudinal axis of said shaft, andcomprising a takeup reel, and a recoil or untwisting drum having a fixedaxis of.

rotation, around which thesaid fabricated shaft passes to prevent theaxial rotation of said shaftbetween said takeup means and said: windingmeans, and thereby cooperating with said. takeup means to effect recoil-.ing or untwisting of said shaft to relieve inherent stresses.

17. The .method of fabricating a composite shaft comprising apluralityvof strands wound about a core, which consists in maintaining!said core under torsional stress during fabrication of the woundstrands, independent of the natural stress incident to the.

winding of said strands thereon.

In witness. whereof, I have hereunto `setmy hand this 17th day of July,A. D., 1924.

` ROBERT C. ANGELL. l

